The present invention relates to vacuum cleaners. More particularly, the present invention relates to stick type vacuum cleaners that employ a dust cup.
Upright vacuum cleaners are very well known in the art. One type of upright vacuum cleaner which has become common in the marketplace is a stick type vacuum cleaner in which a dust cup is employed for holding dirt and dust separated from an airstream. In most stick type vacuum cleaners, a nozzle base travels across a bare floor, carpet or other surface being cleaned. Pivotally mounted to a nozzle base is an upright housing portion. Often this is formed as a rigid plastic housing having a socket for accommodating the dust cup. As is well known, a suction source such as a motor and fan assembly is mounted to either the nozzle base or the upright housing of the vacuum cleaner.
It is now also known in the art of vacuum cleaners to use cyclonic action to separate particles from a stream of dirt laden air. To this end, the dirt laden air is directed tangentially into the dust cup and flows in a swirling motion in the dust cup. Dirt particles are flung outwardly toward the side wall of the dust cup while air is withdrawn along a longitudinal axis of the dust cup.
One known type of stick type vacuum cleaner employing a dust cup with cyclonic airflow utilizes an inverted truncated cone positioned within the dust cup. A baffle extends outwardly from an outer surface of the cone. The baffle cooperates with the cone for directing a stream of dirt laden air in a cyclonic manner about the outer surface wall of the cone. In order to remove dust from the dust laden airstream, a filter is positioned outside the dust cup and mounted thereto. This design is disadvantageous from the standpoint that two different elements are needed to provide the cyclonic airflow and to filter the dirt from the airstream. It would be beneficial to have a design wherein the filter element can be positioned in the dust cup rather than being forced out of the dust cup due to the presence of a structure for generating a cyclonic airflow within the dust cup.
Accordingly, it has been deemed desirable to develop a new and improved stick type vacuum cleaner which would overcome the foregoing difficulties and others while providing better and more advantageous overall results.